In 1909 Herbert Raphael, John Tudor Walters and Charles McCurdy, three Liberal Members of Parliament(MPs) who had links with the Hampstead Garden Suburb development, formed a company with the objective of building a new garden suburb on the Gidea Hall estate. Raphael also reached agreement with the Great Eastern Railway for a new station on the main line from London Liverpool Street to serve the new suburb.^[4]

Romford Garden Suburb was constructed between July 1910 and June 1911 on the Gidea Hall and Balgores estates (respectively north and south of Hare Street, now called Main Road) as an exhibition of town planning.

A further 35 houses, mostly of contemporary flat-roofed design, were built in 1934–35 in Heath Drive, Brook Road, and Eastern Avenue for a Modern Homes Exhibition.

The Royal Liberty School in Upper Brentwood Road was the first school in Britain (and possibly in Europe) to install an electronic computer (an Elliot 903), similar to the 920 military version) in 1965.

It was built in 1769–70 as a country house for John A. Wallinger and since 1921 has housed the Royal Liberty School.

The Palladian mansion was built to designs by James Paine, who included it in his published Plans.^[1] The main north front is of five bays, with a rusticated basement storey, above which the two upper storeys are unified by a giant portico and pilasters at the angles.

Attached to the south front by short corridors there were pavilions containing service rooms. The principal rooms were on the first floor, and were approached by a central staircase with curved ends and a wrought iron balustrade.

The main front was of Portland stone, but the south front was of red brick. In 1896 the house was considerably enlarged on that side by filling in the space between the pavilions.

At the stud maintained at Hare Park, Cherimoya, foaled in 1908, was bred by the South African mining entrepreneur and horseman William Broderick Cloete; after Cloete's death in the sinking of the Lusitania,^[2] during the First World War Hare Park became Hare Hall Camp and housed the 2nd Battalion of the Artists Rifles.

Tis pleasant cycle will take you around Gidea Park, Romford's Garden Suburb,
founded in 1911 and inspired by Ebenezer Howard's Garden City movement. Many of
the houses that are found in the Garden Suburb today are 'exhibition homes'; in 1911
a competition was held to provide high quality architecturally designed homes. Over
100 leading architects of the day designed homes for the competition, which were
executed in an Arts and Crafts style; many of the houses and cottages are reminiscent
of vernacular buildings in their form and detailing. For more details see 'A Pocket
Guide to Te Gidea Park Conservation Area' by the Gidea Park and District Civic Society.